Hi. I’ve been lurking here for awhile, because my son is a major contributor. I recently confessed that I was reading his posts and he urged me to register and contribute. I made my first comment a few minutes ago, in response to “What hardcore singularity believers should consider doing.”
I think I’m probably atypical for this site. I’m a 58 year old, female, clinical social worker. I’ve worked in mental institutions, foster care for the disabled and, for the past 21 years as a play therapist with children. I’m also a part-time artist and a volunteer executive director of a non-profit organization. I’m not sure that I am a “rationalist”.
I did a little Googling. It seems that cats and dogs that are castrated do live longer than those that don’t, so lower testosterone might be correlated with longevity. I think, though, that the effect on patients in mental institutions may be greater than on the population as a whole. Mentally ill, institutionalized patients are often violent. Castration would tend to calm them down. It would lead to less fights, less time in isolation rooms and being treated better by the staff. That would all contribute to longer lives on average.
In any case, even if castrated individuals don’t live longer, it would FEEL longer.